


The Relevant Temperature of Betrayal

by gabapple



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Betrayal, Forbidden Love, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Love Triangles, M/M, OooOH NoOoOoOO, Teen Angst, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 07:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16530035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabapple/pseuds/gabapple
Summary: In a boarding school somewhere in the United States, a young Seung-gil and Vitya have forged an unlikely friendship over their mutual love of dogs, Harry Potter, and generally being huge gay nerds. Seung-gil likes to listen, Vitya likes to talk. It's the perfect match. This is their safe harbor from the cruel world around them, especially as they get older.  But when a new student comes in and threatens their friendship dynamic, what can Seung-gil do?





	The Relevant Temperature of Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fifthcolor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifthcolor/gifts).



> How do you like that super anime title??? :)
> 
> This is a belated birthday gift for my dear friend, Andy, whom I adore. We share a mutual love of the oft unappreciated Seung-gil, and have had many a discussion on the fine qualities that many people seem to miss, which is quite simply a cRIME. But, people will be people, and not everyone has good taste, I guess. :) 
> 
> He's a great _character,_ designed and written to be a feast for those of us who love picking apart delicate layers with teeny tiny forks. The kind that Otabek glares at.
> 
> This AU was based on one of the conversations we had months ago, and infused with my HCs from NLA. My understanding of Seung-gil is not nearly as fleshed out or as in depth as Andy's, though, who has explored him at length with the incredible Elle ([@elderfleurs](https://twitter.com/elderfleurs)), Andy's wife/partner-in-crime/oft writer, who is also a superbly clever person of refined taste. Please learn more about them, their work, and their Seung-gil HCs at the following places:
> 
>  **Andy:** [andyonice](https://twitter.com/andyonice) @twitter / [@blkdiamond-art](http://blkdiamond-art.tumblr.com) @tumblr  
>  **Elle:** [elderfleurs](https://twitter.com/elderfleurs) @twitter / [elderfleurs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elderfleurs) @ao3  
>  **Finite Incantatem:** \- their Alternate Universe Harry Potter fan comic. Elle writes, Andy draws. It's amazing. Go read it here, right now: <http://finite-incantatem.com/> / [starsyscomics](https://twitter.com/starsyscomics) @twitter for updates.
> 
> Happy birthday, Andy! <3 
> 
> \--
> 
> Please note: there are some slurs in this story. Nothing major, but even so. Of course I don't condone this, but since this draws from NLA HCs, which takes pace in our world, it's part of the story. Please tread lightly.

_Baesin._

The word that came to mind when he saw the silver braid. There could be no other word for it. Seung-gil had only opened the door for two seconds. Two seconds and that braid was like the silver flash from a dagger into his heart. Two seconds confirming that the past two months had undone all that he’d slaved over in the past two years.

_Betrayal._

He closed the door without a sound. The boy was nothing if not calculated in everything that he did, and it wouldn’t do if he were caught. No, he’d lose his hand if that happened. Vitya would come at him with his puppy eyes and plaintive words. Like he always did. Like he had from the start.

Two years ago.

 

They were almost the same height, then. Vitya just a rice stalk; pale skin almost green with nausea as he stood in the rain on the academy’s quad. He hadn’t made any friends since coming. His english wasn’t good, he didn’t come from money like the others, and he was so awkward about owning his differences. He didn’t know how to be tough yet. How to shut the others out.

Vitya shivered in the cold; a pretty deer with no friends. Seung-gil watched him for a long time. Weeks. Like a wolf watches its prey from the ferns, waiting for the right opportunity.

It was a snow day. Too many students milling around inside. Seung-gil went to his hiding place- a narrow closet next to the auditorium stage -to be left alone. And to read. His only reprieve. How Vitya had found the closet, Seung-gil still didn’t know. Followed him? Found it on his own? He’d never asked. That day, Seung-gil had just gotten into his book when the door opened, and the other boy slipped in.

 

Not so silently. Not like Seung-gil now, leaving the closet where it was, padding down the hall, away from their secret hiding place, two years later.

_Why, Vitya? Why?_

 

“Oh! Lee. I did not know you… would be in here, sorry.” His face flushed with embarrassment as he stepped backwards against the door, reaching for the handle. “I’ll- uh—”

“You can stay.” Seung-gil shrugged. “If you’re quiet.”

The flustered boy hesitated, shifting his satchel strap, then his feet. Awkward. “Oh,” he said, swallowed, and then, “thank you.”

“Sit, Nikiforov.”

“Just call me Vitya. Please.”

“Fine, Vitya. Sit.”

He sat, there on the floor against the door, clutching his bag to his knees and his knees to his chest.

It made Seung-gil laugh. Not a full laugh, but a little snort. But that made Vitya smile.

“That was a little like a dog, wasn’t it? Like my Makkachin. He’s a poodle. Back at home.”

Seung-gil tried his best to resist showing interest, but it was difficult. “You like dogs?”

“I do! Ha, and the way you tilted your head just now…”

“Ttangbeol is always doing that.”

“Ttangbeol?”

“It means bumblebee. She’s a siberian husky.”

He came closer, coming to sit at Seng-gil’s feet, begging. “Oh, oh, I want to see!”

“Later. What are you doing in a boarding school in the States, Nikiforov?”

The delight and sparkle that had come to the deer’s eyes faded and he curled back in on himself, unsure. “Call me Vitya. Please.”

“Vitya, then.”

“I’m an orphan. On scholarship. For dance. You?”

Seung-gil turned back to his book. “I’m learning to take over the family business.”

“Oh.” Vitya bit his lip. “Is that… Harry Potter?”

 

That was the start of their friendship. Seung-gil tutored him in English, starting with their mutual love of Harry Potter, which Vitya had only read in his native Russian. They only met in secret at first, but it didn’t take long for them to get close, and soon they were inseparable on campus.

They were like the Marauders. Well, half of them. Seung-gil was Moony, for obvious reasons, and Vitya was Prongs.

“I’ll just be a reindeer, I guess. All reindeer have antlers.”

“That works.”

Moony and Prongs. Half of the Marauders.

It was all they needed.

But it didn’t help with the rumors about either of them. Neither of them were _normal._ It wasn’t a problem from the academy’s perspective, which prided itself on being open to all sorts as long the rulebook was followed to the letter. But the other students were less altruistic and that often led to… problems.

“Look, it’s the nerdy boyfriends.”

“And what do you do when you two run off together, huh?”

“Oh, I bet you know. Those little faggots.”

Seung-gil was used to the name-calling. He’d gotten over it long ago. He had no reason to pretend to like the girls or to put up with anyone he didn’t like the company of. Vitya, however, was sensitive. It bothered him to be whispered about and to hear others whispering about Seung-gil, too.

“They know it’s against the rules anyway, don’t they? For any relationships at school. Even if… and I know you don’t. We’re friends. Just friends.”

“They’re too stupid to know, Vitya. Ignore them.”

It only got worse as they got older. Teasing from the girls. Insults from the boys.

Then physical. Just being shoved around at first. In the hallway, the lunchroom, before assembly, at gym. Neither of them were fighters, exactly, and they did their best to ignore it. Passive. Submissive. Try to be invisible. That was what the professors had told them to do.

When that didn’t work, they tried their wit. Both of them had plenty of bitterness and intelligence to spare, so they turned their cunning against their enemies. Fight smarter, not harder. Use words, not fists.

That only made it worse. The bullies _hated_ that more than they hated harmless gay boys.

The day Michele Crispino and his lackies cornered Seung-gil behind the tool shed was the day Vitya snapped. One moment, Michele had Seung-gil up against the brick by his collar, twisting his tie against his throat until he couldn’t breathe. The next, Vitya was there, tearing the Italian away with a strength that none of them expected, but probably should have.

It didn’t stop there.

“Get your paws off of him!”

Seung-gil stared, just as much in shock as the others at the unfolding scene. Vitya, knocking Michele back, punching him in the gut, taking a knee to his groin, an elbow to his face. He was vicious. He was strong.

They backed off.

Vitya had gotten a lot taller in the last year. Broader, too.

It didn’t end every fight, but it ended that one, and the assaults became less frequent. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost, but Vitya stood his ground and defended them both against whatever came their way. He fought for Seung-gil. He got in trouble for it, took bloody lips and noses, black eyes and cheeks, ribs and arms.

Seung-gil cleaned Vitya up, rebraided his hair. They laughed about it. People began to leave them alone.

He never had a crush on Vitya, not once, but he loved the way his cheeks turned red when he got angry. How his fists clenched, pink nails digging into the meat of his palms, the ice blue of his eyes flashing like an unholy winter storm stirring in the dark in his defense. No, he wasn’t attracted to his friend, but he loved him all the same.

They were what Vitya called _comrades._

 

That was then, Seung-gil reminded himself, holding back the emotion that stirred like deep currents in the river. Or the ocean. He knew what he had to do. It wasn’t just his heart that was broken, but the rules. The bitter hot tears stung his eyes as he walked, moving past the other students, ignoring them and their stupid glances.

Vitya promised him that they would stay friends. That nothing would come between us.

But Seung-gil knew better. He’d always known better.

 

Every summer and winter, they went home for holiday breaks. Seung-gil to South Korea, Vitya to Russia. Each time, Vitya came back with stories of his guardian, standing confident, looking a little more mature. Stronger. Despite being what he was, the girls liked him. Despite being a fighter, he was better at making friends. But he was always Seung-gil’s _best_ friend.

They were closest.

Seung-gil wondered when that would change. When would Vitya come back too different? When would he outgrow him?

It was after summer break the second year. Vitya, now much taller than Seung-gil, seemed the same as always at first. They traded photos of their dogs, sharing treats and food from their home countries, and then…

“So, have you seen the new boy?”

“New boy?”

There were new students admitted to the academy every year. Seung-gil hardly hard time to pay attention to them all.

Vitya nodded. “He’s Japanese. Yuuri Katsuki.”

Seung-gil thought about it again. The name sounded familiar, yes. He’d seen Katsuki in one of his classes. He was fine. Quiet. Kept to himself. Typical Japanese student. Much more attractive than most of the boys in their school, but—

“He’s so cute.”

Seung-gil arched a heavy brow, which made Vitya blush and turn away. It wasn’t unusual for Vitya to get crushes. He loved talking about the cute boys in their school, even though nothing ever came of it.  “So?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking maybe he could join our group. Maybe he’d be a good Padfoot. He’s even got a dog, I heard.”

 

Moony. Padfoot. Prongs.

 

Yuuri fit in perfectly. He was respectful and quiet, but smart and he had a surprising sense of humor, too. Since he hadn’t fit in with anyone else yet, he integrated into their friendship circle without any issue. He mellowed them out, too. Added a balance to the equation. Before long, Seung-gil understood what Vitya meant about Yuuri being cute; those soft, brown eyes and that unassuming smile melted his heart just as much as Vitya had, only it was serious. Yuuri _was_ attractive. Seung-gil definitely _liked_ Yuuri.

They both did.

It shouldn’t have mattered, since there was no _love_ allowed at the academy. Relationships were forbidden on campus. Intimacy was against the rules. Nothing would come of it so there was no reason to pursue. They were safe to crush and love without telling, simply basking in Yuuri’s presence for the last two years before graduation.

Then he could do something about it, assuming the interest stayed.

Until then, the three of them would be friends. Good friends. Close friends.

 

He should have known.

 

“He has a poodle, Lee. A toy poodle.”

To match Vitya’s standard.

“And he dances, too.

That meant the two of them had a lot of time and classes together. Vitya got to see Yuuri in ways that Seung-gil never did. The way they must have danced together.

“God, isn’t he great?”

Of course he was great. He was Yuuri Katsuki. They both loved him.

“...but don’t worry, Lee. You’re still my best friend.”

 

He’d been so foolish to trust anyone. Even Vitya. Their friendship was supposed to be gold. That’s what Vitya had said.

 

“Solid gold, Lee.”

 

Even gold melted at a high enough temperature.

 

A rainy day. No Vitya in their shared dorm room. It wasn’t the first time. He’d been gone a lot the last few days. Secretive. Seung-gil went to their hiding place, stopping short at the door.

Heavy breathing. Moaning.

Students breaking the rules weren’t unheard of at school. A lot of the older boys snuck their girlfriends into closets or their own rooms to make out.

But Vitya? Katsuki?

He opened the door, just a crack. Only enough to see that silver braid.

That told him everything.

 

1,064°C. That was Yuuri Katsuki.

 

Breaking the rules meant disciplinary action. The richer students could usually get out of it. They wouldn’t get expelled. Seung-gil didn’t know what that meant for Yuuri, but Vitya was on scholarship. That might be an issue.

But it wasn’t Seung-gil’s fault. Or his problem. Rules were rules.

Vitya hadn’t seen him. All he had to do was tell the dean and the pair of them would be in exposed. Their friendship entirely dissolved.

Get rid of Prongs. Leave Moony and Black alone. The way it was supposed to be.

 

Seung-gil stopped in front of the door to the dean’s office. He tried to read the name on the silver face plate, but the words swam with his tears. It hurt to be betrayed. For things to change. Vitya should have known better.

He lifted his hand, first knuckle out— and hesitated again.

Then, sighing, let his arm fall to his side. He would not perpetuate the betrayal. Cowardice was not one of his traits. Even if Vitya didn’t deserve his loyalty, he had it. For now.

Seng-gil would not be the one to betray them, no matter how much it hurt.

They would fall on their own sword, not Seung-gil’s.

He turned from the door and took a deep breath, held it to the count of four before breathing out slowly, and beginning his slow march back to the closet.

A good friend would give warning, at the very least.

They were Marauders, after all.


End file.
